


Clockwork

by Pegasus143



Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Blindfolds, M/M, Multi, POV Kaz Brekker, Post-Book 2: Crooked Kingdom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:00:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21811813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pegasus143/pseuds/Pegasus143
Summary: Trauma and feelings are a messy combination. Kaz would know.
Relationships: Kaz Brekker/Jesper Fahey/Wylan Van Eck
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	Clockwork

**Author's Note:**

  * For [elysiumwaits](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elysiumwaits/gifts).



> Happy Yuletide! elysiumwaits, I hope you enjoy this!

Kaz leaned against the wall of the Van Eck mansion’s opulent living room, choosing to forgo the use of one of the many plush couches and armchairs. Lately the weather had been as good as it got in Ketterdam, perfect for a night like this where he couldn’t show any sign of weakness. And if his leg did act up? He had a contingency plan for that.   
His eyes drifted to the grandfather clock. An exquisite piece, truly. It was well-oiled and kept perfect time down to the second. _Any minute now._ He glanced over at the large staircase leading up to the second floor. A pair of giggles drifted down, as if their owners were oblivious to the person waiting for them downstairs. _Probably caught up in Wylan’s latest project. They’ll realize soon enough what time it is. They know not to keep me waiting._  
As if on cue, nine bells rang out. The sounds from upstairs immediately grew quiet, replaced by a silence filled with whispers Kaz could only hear from his vantage point under a cast-iron air vent.   
“It’s not time already, right, Jes?”  
A pause. Jesper would be shaking his head. And then…  
“Let’s just clean ourselves up and head down.”  
Footsteps. Running water. Everything running like clockwork. Kaz felt himself grin a little, then snapped his face back into a stern expression when the footsteps approached the stairs. Tonight’s role was one he played often: a man with a will, a way, and a keen sense of impatience.  
“Finally,” he said in a huff as Wylan and Jesper appeared on the stairs.  
“Sorry, Kaz,” Wylan said. “I think we—“ he stopped suddenly, noting Kaz’s upturned eyebrow. Good. Now was _not_ the time for excuses.  
Kaz waved a gloved hand. “It’s fine,” he said in a tone that conveyed it really wasn’t. “Sit down. Both of you,” he added with a pointed glance at Jes of _this is serious_.  
They sat next to each other on one of the couches. No sarcasm, or jokes, or grins. Nothing. It had been so long since they were just a gambler and a merchling. So long, but almost yesterday.   
The air hung heavy with a mixture of metal and oil, the ticks of the grandfather clock cutting through it all. For Kaz, and he suspected for Wylan as well, it sat like a blanket. A small comfort in the world. Something that would always be right. For Jesper, it was a weight. An expectation. Something he needed to get away from, because he had no idea what would happen if he didn’t.  
That was why Kaz was here.  
“Why are you here, Kaz?” Jes finally asked.   
Kaz let his façade drop, just for a second. “That’s an excellent question,” he said with a grin before explaining.

* * *

Kaz stopped by to check on Wylan and Jesper when he could. Usually it was a short visit – they were all busy men – but doing so gave him a sense of comfort. Maybe there was something else, too. Something that made him visit more often than was probably necessary, something that made him listen instead of dismissing Wylan’s concerns.   
“Jesper’s been good – better than good, actually. He’s said he doesn’t feel tempted to gamble, even when he’s out on an errand with a pocket full of kruge, and we’ve spent a lot of time training. He’s exhausted after, but still… restless?” Wylan shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know how to explain it, or how to help him.”  
Kaz should’ve shrugged and let it be. He should’ve left Wylan and Jesper to deal with their own problems while he dealt with his, never letting their paths cross more than they had to. They both had better things to do with their time than spending it with him, right?  
“I might be able to help. I’ll stop by at nine, sharp. Until then…” He proceeded to explain part of his plan to Wylan, asking a couple more questions along the way. He had a pretty good guess; he’d known Jes for years. This wasn’t the first time this had come up, or the first time he’d had to intervene. But it was the first time his feelings had been… like this.

* * *

“Remember this?” Kaz asked, pulling a blindfold out of his pocket.  
Jesper’s eyes widened in surprise. “You still have it?”  
Kaz shrugged. “Of course. A lock picker always keeps some extra tools around.”  
Jesper ducked his head forward, knowing what to do. Instead of tying it on himself, Kaz passed the blindfold to Wylan. “You do it.”  
“O-okay,” Wylan said, hands shaking a little as he wrapped the blindfold carefully around Jesper’s head and tied it in the back. “Is this okay?”  
“Yeah,” Jesper replied.  
It didn’t take long for Kaz to notice the change. The bouncing of his leg that was so uniquely _Jesper_ that it often faded into the background slowed to a stop. His breathing grew more deep. More relaxed. It was so different seeing him like this. Made him want to get closer, to touch, to _feel_. He picked at the tips of the fingers on his gloves, then stopped. Tonight wasn’t about him. It would go badly, anyway. He knew that. He wouldn’t be so _stupid_ as to think he could just brush his ungloved fingertips against someone else’s skin. But maybe…  
Before he could lose his nerve, he pulled off one of his gloves, and held it out to Wylan with his still-gloved hand. “Help Jes get this on.”  
“What is it?” Jesper asked.  
“Gloves.”  
Wylan helped Jesper guide his fingers in, giggling when they didn’t go in the right holes at first.  
Kaz took off his other glove and held it out to Wylan, his ungloved fingers just barely holding on to the edge of the seam. He let out a quick breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding once Wylan took it from him.  
Jesper flexed his fingers. “These feel… different. Kaz… are these yours?”  
Wylan had seen him take them off. There was no way out of this one. He nodded at first, then remembered Jes couldn’t see him. “Yes.”  
He felt oddly vulnerable without them. He took them off, of course. But that was only in his room at the Slat. Not here, even though he knew he would be safe, even though he knew Wylan and Jesper would share their home, would share their _lives_ with him, if he only asked.  
Ghezen, he wants to just reach out. He wants to hold Jesper’s hand. Wylan’s, too. There’s so many things… he doesn’t let his mind go that far. He can’t. Already, his palms feel the opposite of sweaty: cold, shaky, unstable. Out of control. He tries to shove them in his coat pockets, but it just isn’t right. The texture of his coat isn’t the same as his gloves. The shape isn’t practically tailored to the shape of his hands. There’s still too much air, too much cold.  
Wylan notices. He’s become more observant since the night Kaz first offered him a place to stay at the Slat. “I’m going to help you take these off, okay?”  
Jesper nods. The way he trusts Wylan to do these things for him, to help him… it reminds Kaz not of the wide-eyed little boy he was, but of the honest man he could have become.  
The grandfather clock struck ten. The gloves were back on. Like clockwork, he was right back where he started. Well, almost.  
“You can keep the blindfold,” he said before leaving. He heard two goodnights from behind him, but didn’t answer. Then he remembered. “You might want to check the time on the grandfather clock!” he shouted from the entrance before stepping out into the chilly Ketterdam night.  
Clocks, locks, people. They were all the same, really. But he had to take care of his own. Even if he couldn’t do what they did for each other.

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, time for some screaming about this! (I might edit this part after author names get revealed, if I remember)  
> I absolutely LOVED the prompts that elysiumwaits gave for this, and while it didn't really stick with any of them, they were very helpful in developing this fic. I thought it would be an interesting challenge, and it definitely was. But I enjoyed every moment of writing it. I even cried a little at the end. You totally made me fall in love with this ship!


End file.
